The thus-arranged vehicle front body structure is known as is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example.
The vehicle front body structure disclosed in Patent Document 1 comprises left and right front side frames extending longitudinally in the vehicle body at the left and right sides of the vehicle body, a bumper beam extending laterally in front of the front side frames, an impact-absorbing member (a crash pipe) connected to the left and right ends of the bumper beam and extending rearward in the vehicle body, the rear end being fastened to the front ends of the front side frames, and a front bulk head (a shroud panel) disposed between the left and right front side frames and supporting a cooling device. The front bulk head is fastened to a portion medially along the longitudinal direction of the impact-absorbing member (the crash pipe).
With the vehicle front body structure described above, damage to the cooling device supported by the shroud panel can be prevented during light collisions, and the impact absorption performance of the crash pipe can be maintained during heavy collisions.
Normally, to increase the cabin area in a vehicle, the longitudinal length of an engine compartment must be reduced to create a short overhang. To uphold light collision performance, the longitudinal length of the impact-absorbing member (the crash pipe) of the front part of the front side frames must be increased.
However, in the vehicle front body structure disclosed in Patent Document 1, the front bulk head (the shroud panel) is fastened to a portion longitudinally medially along the impact-absorbing member (the crash pipe). Specifically, the impact-absorbing member is made less rigid than the front side frames as a light collision countermeasure, and the connected section is less rigid than when the front bulk head and the front side frames are directly connected together. This connected section is a connected section between front and rear members (front side frames) and left and right members (the front bulk head) forming the engine compartment, and the vehicle body may lose handling stability and torsional rigidity due to a decrease in the connecting rigidity. Handling stability includes two aspects: the maneuverability of the automobile as expected by the driver, and stable traveling during disturbances.